Former IIT Bombay Classmates Recount Campus Memories Amid Viral 1974 Photo Resurfaces

Nostalgia Strikes Congress Leaders Amidst Throwback Photograph

A throwback photograph from the 1970s has sparked a wave of nostalgia among senior Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Shashi Tharoor, taking them back to their college days filled with quizzes, debates, and cultural rivalries.

The image, shared by the IIT Bombay Alumni Association, dates back to December 1974 and was captured on the lawns of Miranda House during a cultural festival hosted by Hindu College. What may have seemed like just another student trip at the time has now become a cherished memory of a defining era. The group photo features a young Jairam Ramesh alongside Nandan Nilekani, both part of an IIT Bombay team that had travelled to Delhi after winning a quiz competition.

The alumni association's post shed light on the realities of student life in that period. With little to no institutional funding for cultural participation, students had to rely on their own resources. The IIT Bombay team made the long journey from Mumbai to Delhi in a third-class train compartment, paying Rs 37 for a one-way ticket.

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The post also reflected the gender imbalance of the era. In the mid-1970s, IIT Bombay had around 2,500 students, but only about 30 were women. The cultural team in the photograph included just one woman, Sushila, who participated in a play. Decades later, many of the individuals in that picture remain connected, bonded by shared experiences from their youth.

The viral image prompted both Jairam Ramesh and Shashi Tharoor to revisit those memories publicly. Tharoor, who studied at St. Stephen's College, recalled how inter-college festivals were driven more by passion than resources. He reminisced about competing alongside Ramu Damodaran in the early 1970s, winning debates, quizzes, and theatre events at institutions like IIT Kharagpur and even IIT Bombay's first cultural festival.

Jairam Ramesh responded with a vivid memory from the same 1974 festival at Hindu College. He recalled a quiz question about the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated. Unable to answer correctly at the time, he later remembered how the correct response, which is 'Spencer Percival (1812),' came from none other than a young Shashi Tharoor in the audience. Historian Ramachandra Guha, who was also present then, has often shared that anecdote with him over the years.

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